Wednesday, August 6, 2014

It's amazing how restorative good food can be...

Because the hotel was pretty full yesterday, I didn't end up having lunch. That's because I was waiting for the housekeepers to clean the room so I could get the dogs out. They didn't show up until just before 3:00, which was kind of too late for eating. I figured Bill would be back soon enough. He didn't get back until about 6:30pm. By then, I was really hungry and decidedly irritable.

We left the hotel room and the dogs immediately started howling. Bill went back and faked them out by sticking his key in the lock. That shut them up for some reason. Then we went to the first of four restaurants, hoping to have dinner. We sat down in the bar area of this place and were ignored. Actually, I think the staff's attention was entirely focused on the very busy biergarten. I would have liked to have sat out there too, but it was crowded and smokey.

We went to an Italian place, but it appeared to be really packed and I didn't want to wait for a table. Then we went to a German gasthaus, but nothing on the menu appealed to me. What I really wanted was a nice glass of red wine and some fresh Italian food. Fortunately, Il Cappuccino Feinkost on Filderbahnstrasse in Mohringen was ready to deliver, because by the time Bill and I sat down, I was near tears from stress, frustration, and hunger.

Really nice Napoli wine...

The wait staff at this restaurant was wonderful. We sat down and looked at the menu and the waiter helped Bill pick out an excellent and reasonably priced bottle of wine from Naples. We enjoyed our wine and some bread as we decided what to order. I originally asked for swordfish, but because the restaurant is about to close for holidays (typical in August among restaurant owners in Germany), they didn't have it. I got grilled shrimp and a salad instead.

Delightful shrimp!

And a tasty, colorful salad... I felt good about eating this.

Bill ordered a salmon and pasta dish. I'm not sure if the pasta was homemade, but it was definitely excellent and it tasted homemade. The grilled shrimp dish was also good, but I was especially impressed by the huge salad made with greens, ruby red tomatoes, corn, and kidney beans. I don't usually like salad that much, but I ate most of it, and not just because I was really hungry. I loved that the food was served with style and pride, too. I could tell the staff was enthusiastic about their product.

By the time we were finished with dinner, my mood was vastly improved and I felt much better. We had dessert-- Bill had lemon sorbet and I had a tartufo, which was basically two balls of chocolate and vanilla ice cream dusted with cocoa. Then we had espresso and grappa. As we enjoyed dessert, I realized how happy I am to be back in Germany and why I need to focus on what it'll be like when we have our own space again.

Dessert!

All told, the bill was 88 euros. Bill gave 100, which made the very kind and attentive staff happy. I should mention that that was a very generous tip; in Europe, wait staff gets paid a living wage and, in general, they don't expect such extravagance. But they really did me a solid yesterday because I really needed a good meal and some excellent wine.

If you need a good Italian place in Mohringen, I would definitely recommend Il Cappuccino Feinkost. I hope we'll get to go there again sometime soon. They also have a small deli in the restaurant.